Understanding User Attitudes toward Information Systems: A Grounded Theory Approach

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Abstract

People develop attitudes toward things in many ways. While direct experience can be the foundation of permanent attitude formation, both indirect experience and referential input from others are strong influences on both attitude development and changes in personal attitude. The psychological factors that govern attitude are varied. They are documented in the scholarly literature of many fields, and frequently reference the study of people and technology. Research in the use of information systems (IS), however, does not typically aggregate the psychological factors influencing user attitude. The purpose of this chapter is to bring together the divergent empirical evidence of IS user attitude formation. A grounded theory approach is used to formally identify and analyze this evidence. Such analysis can provide a more cohesive understanding of what is known about user attitudes toward information systems, and can offer an ontological framework for more formalized study of the relationship between people and information systems.